Ball of foot shoe inserts

Abstract

A removable ball of the foot insert for placement into footwear at a position in correspondence with a forefoot portion of the footwear includes a substantially planar member made from a viscoelastic gel, the planar member including a lower surface and an upper surface, and a plurality of parallel, spaced apart, sinusoidally shaped spring walls formed from a viscoelastic gel and extending from the lower surface of the planar member at a predetermined area corresponding to a ball of the foot when the insert is inserted into the footwear, for separating bones of second and third metatarsals of the foot, the spring walls having heights that generally decrease outwardly from a center of the predetermined area, and the viscoelastic gel of the planar member having a hardness greater than a hardness of the viscoelastic gel of the spring walls.

Description

INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to shoe inserts, and more particularly, to improved ball of foot shoe inserts that provide cushioning at the ball of the foot, as well as maintaining the insert in position in the shoe. [0002] Ball of foot shoe inserts have generally been formed by a pad of cushioning material of a uniform thickness, such as foam or sponge rubber, that has a general shape conforming to the interior of the shoe at the forefoot. Wearers who desire additional shoe comfort or who suffer from foot trouble, for example, pain at the ball of the foot, place the cushioned insert into the shoe to provide added cushioning and support. [0003] One problem with such known inserts is that, since they do not occupy the entire area of the shoe, they tend to move from a desired position so that the cushioned area thereof is not optimally positioned. [0004] Further, pain at the ball of the foot generally occurs between the second and third me...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] It is still another feature of the present invention to provide a ball of the foot insert that provides different heights of the sinusoidal shaped, resilient spring walls to better separate the bones of the second and third metatarsals.

[0014] It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide a ball of the foot insert that provides a gel material of a greater hardness in areas surrounding the resilient spring walls to better retain the insert in a desired position in the shoe.

[0015] It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a ball of the foot insert that provides a shock dampening affect of the gel material, while also providing a spring action push-off for walking.

[0016] It is a still further feature of the present invention to provide a ball of the foot insert that provides comfort to a person's feet, without causing the muscles to tire easily.

[0017] It is a yet further feature of the present invention to provide a ball of the foot insert having a low friction fabric on the upper surface which reduces forces from the foot that would tend to move the insert in the shoe.

Problems solved by technology

One problem with such known inserts is that, since they do not occupy the entire area of the shoe, they tend to move from a desired position so that the cushioned area thereof is not optimally positioned.

Further, pain at the ball of the foot generally occurs between the second and third metatarsal.

This is because the bone structures thereof come together and cause the pain.

However, these ball of foot shoe inserts do not solve the underlying problem of the pain, namely, the bone structures of the second and third metatarsals coming together.

However, the shock absorbing quality of the gel insoles has a deleterious effect.

Specifically, because of the dampening affect of the gel, walking can require more energy, causing the muscles to get tired more easily.

Therefore, these known insoles do not raise the ball of the foot, and therefore, do not function to solve the underlying problem of pain caused by the bone structures of the second and third metatarsals coming together.

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